Week 7 Recap

ACDC Finally Charges the Raiders

One of the top QB/WR stacks over the past two seasons has been the combination of Derek Carr and Amari Cooper in Oakland. Prior to last Thursday night’s game against the Chiefs, this combo had been completely non-existent in 2017 and many fantasy owners were forced to jettison either Carr or Cooper from their lineups. Carr’s struggles are explained by his dealing with a stress fracture in his back but it’s tougher to figure out how Cooper became a fantasy ghost, catching only nine balls for 51 yards in his previous four games. Lightning finally struck, as Cooper hauled in 11 catches for 210 yards and two scores against a stingy Chiefs defense. Carr, would finish with 417 yards passing and three touchdowns, including the game winner to Michael Crabtree with no time left on the clock.

Moving forward, the big question is whether or not Carr and Cooper can remain on the same page. It took seven weeks for new offensive coordinator Todd Downing to finally open up the offense and if the Raiders continue with this air raid philosophy, your fantasy team should be able to benefit mightily. However, early season trends suggest that we might need to be wary of this explosion being a one time wonder.

Trades for Disgruntled Wideouts?

While JuJu Smith-Schuster was playing hide and go seek on Sunday in the endzone against the Bengals, his teammate Martavis Bryant has been hiding behind his words on social media. The distraught wideout, who was reinstated after missing all of last season with substance abuse suspension, has voiced frustrations with his role in the Steelers offense. Last week certainly didn’t help matters as Bryant had only one catch for a paltry two yards. After the game, Bryant re-iterated his desire to be traded. Fantasy wise, Bryant has been a bust thus far as owners looking for his big play ability have been utterly disappointed and, at this point, many of them share Bryant’s hope that he’ll be traded to a team that can orwill utilize his vertical talent.

The Washington Professional Football Team is having similar issues with their highly prized wideout, Terrelle Pryor. Pryor was acquired in the offseason from the Cleveland Browns and was brought in to be Kirk Cousins’ downfield threat. So far, he has accumulated only 18 receptions and one touchdown. Don’t expect Washington to make a trade, as they have a lot of money invested in Pryor. But if he can’t get himself out of the doghouse, his fantasy value will essentially fall to zero by season’s end.

The trade deadline is on Halloween and the fantasy world will be monitoring the status of each of these wideouts throughout the week.

Josh McCown? Really?

If I had told you at your fantasy draft that during the middle of this season Josh McCown would be a legit starter for your fantasy team, you’d probably think I was as insane as some of the cases on Mindhunter. But, well, here we are. McCown has averaged over 20 points per game in his last three starts and somehow has kept the Jets competitive. With bye weeks decimating rosters and some top tier QBs faltering, McCown could be your late season stat-sheet stuffer.

Much to our surprise, the Jets have an offense that manages to keep them in games. Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse and Austin Seferian-Jenkins have been sharing the wealth and boosting their QB’s numbers. McCown has been slinging the ball around the field all season and has been healthy for the first time in forever. If you’re desperate after Aaron Rodgers went down or if you need a spot start late in the season to secure some fantasy points, McCown won’t let you down. See what I did there?